House OKs proxy votes
Dems say it’s temporary measure; GOP alarmed
Lawmakers are now allowed to cast House floor votes by proxy — without being “present” as the Constitution requires. The next step will allow them to vote remotely once technology is approved.
WASHINGTON – It all started with the grandchildren.
As House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer saw it, if he could FaceTime with the grandchildren, why not have Congress legislate by video chat and avoid the health risks of convening at the Capitol during the coronavirus pandemic?
And so the silver-haired, 80-year-old congressman from Maryland helped steer the House into one of the more substantial rules changes of its 230 year history.
“This is no revolutionary, radical change,” Hoyer told The Associated Press in an interview. “This is exactly what the Founders wanted to happen.”
The House approved the new rules Friday, during what could likely be the chamber’s last fully in-person votes for the foreseeable future.
The move came as Democrats powered a massive $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill through the House along party lines. The bill has no chance of becoming law as written, but will likely spark difficult negotiations with the White House and Senate Republicans. Any product would probably be the last major COVID-19 response bill before November’s presidential and congressional elections.
From now on, lawmakers will be allowed to cast House floor votes by proxy – without being “present” as the Constitution requires. The next step will allow them to skip the middle-man and simply vote remotely once leaders approve the technology.
The shift will dramatically change the look, if not the operation, of the legislative branch – launching a 21st century WFH House, like others, “working from home.”
Debate over the changes has been fierce.
As President Donald Trump encourages Americans back to work, Democrats pushed the changes past the objections of Republicans.
“It’s a very sad day inside this House,” said Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California.
Neither Civil War nor Great Depression or any other national crisis had spurred the House to allow its members to vote from home, a sign of how deeply the virus outbreak act is disrupting the institutional norms of American life.
McCarthy, a top Trump ally, argued during debate, “The founders would be ashamed.”
But like the rest of the country, lawmakers are weighing risks and responsibilities. Since the virus outbreak shuttered Capitol Hill in March, the 435-member House has largely stayed away while the smaller Senate resumed operations. Several lawmakers and dozens of staff in the sprawling complex have tested positive as the virus hits close.
The changes are expected to be temporary, only through the remainder of this session of Congress, at the end of the year. Democrats insist the changes should be used only under times of crisis.